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Topic: Tight Breathing? (Read 194 times)

I thought I had really managed my anxiety with therapy and Zoloft. I don't feel any major anxiety at all. I think about things that are stressful at times, but don't really *feel* anxious, if that makes sense.

The doctors were treating me for allergy induced asthma since 2009 due to my complaints of tight breathing. I finally went to an allergist, and he doesn't think I have asthma at all (he said it could be a possibility, but I could tell he really thinks it is anxiety).

I feel tight breathing, like there is a band around my abdomen every single day at least once. I am scared there is something wrong with my heart or that I have a tumor.

Part of the reason the allergist does NOT think it is allergies is that when I take a puff of Albuterol, I can breathe almost immediately better (which is too quickly for the Albuterol to work).

I guess my question is if any of you have daily breathing issues that are related to dormant or present anxiety. I start to obsess about my breathing and it makes me wheeze and gets worse. I am so scared there is something seriously wrong, but the doctors don't seem to think so.

As an anxiety sufferer of many years, I can very definitely say yes, tight breathing is a very common symptom. I'm having trouble breathing even as I write this. When it's bad and I panic, I can start hyperventilating. It sucks but you're not alone.

It could be allergies because albuterol can work instantly -- when I had an allergy attack I had to take it and it made my next breath easier. You could be allergic to something or a combination of things. keep a diary of foods you eat and stuff you use. For me it was the new sofa I'd bought -- every time I was in the apartment I started coughing and wheezing. We had to get rid of it when I ended up needing a shot and breathing treatment. I also have reflux -- if you have reflux (and you can't always tell!) the acid can go into your lungs. I was wheezing out of nowhere and went to a lung specialist and had chest x rays and pulmonary function test and he found the acid. Went to a gastro doc who confirmed "significant reflux". Also, hyperventilating can also cause tightness and wheezing and coughing. I have hyperventilation syndrome and get this when I go through flares. I have had a lot of this tight feeling, a cotton feeling in my lungs, tight chest, squishy and wheeze sensations and so on. I have had a zillion eKG's and echo's a nd 7s tress tests in the last 3 years and they say my heart is ok. I'm still paranoid but that's my anxiety.